Scientists unsure why dolphins washing up dead

One year after the Deepwater oil-spill, dolphins and endangered sea turtles are beginning to wash up on beaches in alarming numbers.
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(CNN) -- Dead baby bottlenose dolphins are continuing to wash up in record numbers on the shores of the Gulf of Mexico, and scientists do not know why.

Since February 2010 to April 2011, 406 dolphins were found either stranded or reported dead offshore.

The occurrence has prompted the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to designate these deaths as an "unusual mortality event" or UME. The agency defines a UME as a stranding incident that is unexpected or involves a significant loss of any marine mammal population.

Mase said NOAA is working closely with a variety of agencies to try to figure out not only why the bottlenose dolphins are turning up in such large quantities but also why the mammals are so young.

"These were mostly very young dolphins, either pre-term, neonatal or very young and less than 115 centimeters," she said.

Since the start of the oil spill, a total of 15 bottlenose dolphins have been found with either confirmed or suspected oil on their carcasses.

Even after the gushing well was capped, the agency said nine oiled dolphins have been found since November 2, 2010.

Of those nine, six were confirmed to contain oil from the incident; one was found with oil that did not match the Deepwater Horizon samples, and two have not yet been tested.

The dolphin deaths may be completely independent from the oil spill, Mase said.

"Even though they have oil on them, it may not be the cause of death," she said. "We want to look at the gamut of all the possibilities."

Scientists say they are equally concerned about the number of sea turtle strandings.

Similar to the dolphin deaths, an abnormally high number of turtles have been found either floating close to shore or washed up on shores in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama.

"The vast majority of these are dead, with states in moderate to severe decomposition," said Barbara Schroeder, NOAA Fisheries national sea turtle coordinator.

The majority of them are Kemp's ridley sea turtles, an endangered species since 1970. But some strandings included loggerheads, which are also endangered.

"Since January 1st, we've had just under 100 strandings," Schroeder said. "About 87 of those have been documented since the middle of March."

Only about a third of those found were in good enough shape to perform necropsies, she said. Seven turtles showed indications that they had been in accidents involving watercrafts, while another displayed injuries consistent with being caught on a hook.

Results from the rest appeared to indicate they had drowned near the bottom of the Gulf -- possibly either from forced submergence or an acute toxic event.

NOAA Fisheries Stranding Program Coordinator Dr. Teri Rowles said tissue samples from both turtles and dolphins are being carefully documented due to the civil and criminal litigation ongoing with BP.
"We are looking at what is the impact of the oil spill and the response activities to the oil spill event, and what impact they had on the Gulf of Mexico ecosystem," she said. "We did not say that the dolphins have died because of the oil, just that they have come back with oil on them."

This news saddened me this morning

Is the beginning of long term effects of the oil spill? Where will it end?

If the BP spill is found to be responsible for the dolphins and turtles dying, nothing can compensate our endangered species becoming extinct. Well done BP

Of course, it is possible that test results could show oil and chemicals may not be the cause of the dolphins and turtles deaths at all, how likely is that I wonder?

I'm 99.9% sure that the oil spill is the cause of marine life die offs , but the damage is done

I say it is probably a combination of HAARP activity and the oil spill combination. Just to be sure they need to do toxicology reports on the dead of course.

You really have to admit, collectively we aren't really doing this whole "inhabitation" thing all that efficiently are we? This has been happening for too long now - and alot of these die-off cases are not being reported in the msm (another story).

Humanity needs to bite the bullet. The solution?

reply to post by AtraxRobustus

and alot of these die-off cases are not being reported in the msm (another story).

It is this reason why we tend to think these cases are a one-off freak of nature and nothing to be alarmed about.

But the one-off freak of nature cases are beginning to happen to alot of different species and one after another - if this isn't news worthy of covering, I don't know what is

Solution? Maybe nature should begin it's 'freak mass-death' thing on the soul-less, money-grabbing freaks who will be the death of this planet, and everything on it.

Originally posted by AtraxRobustus
This has been happening for too long now - and alot of these die-off cases are not being reported in the msm (another story).

Actually, this *is* a main component to the story. The corporate-owned mainstream media and our "government" are not just downplaying the facts -- they are outright lying to us and are actively engaged in a coverup. The scale of this disaster is every bit as bad as the Japanese nuclear meltdown. We will be feeing the effects for generations.

You want facts about the BP Gulf disaster? Real facts?

www.floridaoilspilllaw.com...

Ya, well I bet that is tough to figure. Are they even sure which ones are dolphins and which ones are the turtles ?

Is it possible that oil is still leaking from fissures near the original BP oil mess and that someone is simply pumping Corexit into the water rather than spraying it. So as not to alarm the public?

All those ships in the area, who is to say that some of them aren't filled with dispersants and are pumping it deep underwater to keep oil from rising up.

They would tell us wouldn't they? Not.

Originally posted by yourmamaknows
All those ships in the area, who is to say that some of them aren't filled with dispersants and are pumping it deep underwater to keep oil from rising up.

They would tell us wouldn't they? Not.

Just more deadly fun-n-games from TPTB. If they will spray corexit over coastal areas (and they absolutely have), I would not be surprised at anything they do.

It is probably the decades long output from the Mississippi River and the 6,500 square mile dead zone in the Gulf due to the toxins, heavy metals and other pollutants which have (and are) being routinely poured into the Gulf. Many of these toxins will take vastly longer to dissipate than oil. It is not called a dead zone” for nothing.

It now seems customary for the state of the Gulf to be blamed on the tragic oil spill (not to mention the many oil spills that came before). Could it be that it is convenient to blame everything on Deepwater, rather than consider the parlous state of pollution farting out of the Mississippi and other rivers and condoned by the American people either due to inaction or agreement.

It seems awfully convenient to me.

Regards

They're martyrs for the dolphin cause. Maybe the magical Atlantis crystals are radioactive, and so they died to cause vengeance upon Japan by summoning the tsunami?

I highly doubt that there is any other cause than the spill.
Ultimately it is the most deadly change that has occurred there in a year.
The Corexit clouds of oil that are drifting down below the surface have not been accounted for yet.
These mamals(the dolphins ) are like us, susceptable to everything bad Corexit does to us.
The turtles are also air breathers, and may have gotten caught swimming deep below the surfgace in a clud of this deadly stuff.
I can see them dying down there unable to get out of the cloud.
The Corexit may be absorbed into the skin directly.....